Safety ski binding

ABSTRACT

A ski safety heel binding includes a frame on which a boot-heel holding jaw is pivotally mounted. A cam profiled lever is pivotally mounted on and suspended from the pivoted jaw, a forward profiled surface of this lever being pressed against a fixed guide roller by a compression spring which presses a movable piece against a straight rear surface of the lever, to either hold the jaw down with elastic play in a boot locking position, or hold the jaw in a raised boot-releasing position. A traction or pressure operated lever enables said piece to be disengaged from the cam-profiled lever, for voluntary release of the binding.

United? States Patent 1191 Sentou [111 3,856,317 1 Dec. 24, 1974 SAFETY-SKI BINDING [75] Inventor: Bernard Sentou, Cluses, France [73] Assignee: Etablissements CARPANO & PONS,

Place du Cretet, Cluses, France [22] Filed: May 16, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 360,782

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 762,816 7/1967 Canada v.280/11.35T

Primary ExaminerRicharCl A. Schacher Assistant Examiner-james M. Slattery Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Burns; Emmanuel J. Lobato; Bruce L. Adams [57] ABSTRACT A ski safety heel binding includes a frame on which a boot-heel holding jaw is pivotally mounted.- A cam profiled lever is pivotally mounted on and suspended from the pivoted jaw, a forward'profiled surface of ':this lever being pressed against a fixed guide roller by a compression spring which presses a movable pieceagainst a straight rear surface of the lever, to either hold the jaw down with elastic play in a boot locking I position, or hold the jaw in a raised boot-releasing position. A traction or pressure operated lever enables said piece to be disengaged from the cam-profiled lever, for voluntary release of the binding.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures wat FIG. 3

V// in /72 79 20 23 73 FIG-4 SAFETY SKI BINDING The present invention relates to ski bindings. A known type of ski safety heel binding, adapted to allow the release of a locked boot when it is subjected to a lifting force exceeding a given value, includes a frame on which a boot-heel holding member or jaw is pivotally mounted about an axis parallel to the upper face of the ski and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ski, and elastic means cooperating with means for locking said boot-heel holding member, which is held down against the upper face of the boot sole in a closed position of the binding.

An object of the invention is to provide a ski binding of the general type set out above, and which can be set by a single adjustment,.namely of the force of the said elastic means, without a need to carry out a separate adjustment as a function of the thickness of the boot sole. A subsidiary object is to ensure that the voluntary release of the binding can be carried out in two phases, a first phase during which the binding is released and during which the skier can leave the boot resting on the ski, and a second phase during which the skier can release the boot by lifting same, and during which the raising of the boot-sole holding member or jaw requires .no or pracitcally no effort. A further object is to ensure that following voluntary or accidental release of the binding, the boot-sole holding member or jaw remains in an open position, ready for r e-insertion of a boot, and can bemoved back to a boot-holding position by exerting a very slight downward pressure by means of the boot heel.

The invention accordingly provides a ski safety heel binding comprising a frame including means defining a plane face adapted to be fitted on the upper surface of a ski, with a principal axis of said frame disposed along the longitudinal axis of the ski. A boot sole holding member is pivotally mounted on said frame about a first axis parallel to said plane'face and perpendicular to said principal axis, and a lever is'pivotally mounted on said member about a second axis parallel to and spaced apart from said first axis, said lever having opposed first and second faces. Elastic means are provided for urging a piece which is movably mounted on said frame against said first face of said lever to apply said second face of said lever against guide means fixed relative to said frame, and said second surface of said lever has means defining a cam-like profile for cooperating with said guide means to hold said member down in a first boot-sole engaging position under the action of said elastic means while allowing movement of said member to a second boot-sole releasing position when said member is subjected to a raising force exceeding a given value.

The said guide means can be formed by a roller or a low friction surface fixed to the frame and, preferably, said cam like profile of said second surface of said lever includes a portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position under the action of said elastic means.

.In a preferred embodiment, the binding comprises release means for enabling voluntary movement of said member to its second position, said release means including a second lever pivotally mounted on said frame about a third axis parallel to said second axis. The second lever includes a part which engages with play with said movable piece, and means for enabling it to be surface on saidpiece for engaging with cooperating profiled stop means on said frame for releasably holding said piece in its second position under the action of said elastic means. In this manner, the cam-profiled lever can be freed from the action of the elastic means, and the boot-sole holding member can be freely upwardly moved to relase the boot, simply by lifting up the boot.

Advantageously, the boot soleholding member includes means for disengaging said second profiled surface of said piece from said stop means when said member is moved into its second position to allow said elastic means to move said piece into its first position, said cam-like profile of said first lever including a portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position.

Consequently, all of the mobile components of the binding are in the same positions after either voluntary or accidental release of the binding.

The cam-profiled lever also preferably includes means defining a projection for cooperating with a boot sole to move said member from its second to its first position.

Also, the cam-like profile of said lever preferably includes adjacent first and second portions of said second surface, said first portion being inclined relative to the direction along which said elastic means urges said piece and said second portion being disposed substantially perpendicular to said direction along which said elastic means urges said piece, said first portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its first position, and said second portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position. In this manner, a very low downward pressure exerted by the boot heel is sufficient to move the cam-profiled lever downwardly until the sloping part of the profile cooperates with the guide means, whereupon the spring means ensures further downward movement of the cam-like lever and the boot-sole holding member into its first, boot-sole engaging position.

In the preferred embodiment, the second lever of said release means can be actuated by an upward pivoting movement and, in this case, said means for enabling manual movement of said second lever include a manually pullable flexible strap attached to said second lever. Alternatively, the second lever can be actuated by a downward pivoting movement and, in this case, said means for enabling manual movement of said second lever include pressure-actuable means for engaging with the tip of a ski pole.

Two embodiments of ski bindings according to the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic axial cross-sectional view showing the basic components of a first embodiment, of binding secured on a ski with the binding in a normal. operative position holding a boot in place;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the position of several of the parts of the binding of FIG. 1 but with the binding holding a boot having a thicker sole than that of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows the first embodiment of binding in a voluntary release position, before removal of the boot;

.the ski. The frame 1, is only partially shown, includes an axial bore 3 receiving a compression spring 4 and a hollow mobile piece 5 slidably mounted with play within the bore 3. The piece 5 includes an open tubular end engaging about a free end of spring 4, the other end of spring 4 being fixed to a screw 28 threadably engaging a tapped end part of bore 3,this screw 28 serving to adjust the force of compression of spring 4, and consequently, the limiting force at which the binding re- The front face of lever 18 also includes a slightly recessed profiled part 23 which is joined to the slope by a part 30 disposed substantially perpendicular to the axis of spring 4. The shaft 10 also serves as pivoting axis for a lever 12 which includes at one end a part 27 engaged with play within the hollow mobile piece 5, between its wall 6 and the front wall of beak 7. The lever 12 can be actuated by an upwardly exerted traction, and for this purpose includes at its reanwardlyprotruding free end 26 a flexible strap by means of which the lever 12 can be manually pulled upwards. Of

' course, the pivoting axis of lever 12 could, while releases. The piece 5 inlcudes a wall 6 against which spring 4 bears, this wall 6 having a first profiled surface on its face oppositethat against which the spring 4 bears, and a hollow open-sided beak 7 including a recessed second profiled surface 8 on an upper part thereof and a rounded upper front edge 9. The frame I carries towards its forward end a fixed transverse shaft 11 carrying a freely rotatable roller 13, and a transverse shaft 10 fixed above the piece 5, both of these shafts being disposed parallel to the upper face of ski 2 and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the ski. The shaft 10 serves as a pivoting axis for a lever 14 having a free end 15 which serves as a member or jaw adapted to hold the sole 16 of a boot in place. The lever 14, which is freely mounted about shaft 17, carries midway therealong a shaft 17, parallel to shaft 10, about which another lever 18 is freely pivotally mounted. In the proximity of its shaft 10, the lever 14 has a protruding edge 24 (FIG. 3).

The lever 18 includes a straight rear edge 19 and a ca m-profiled front edge including an inclined portion 20. In FIG. 1, the rounded edge 9 of piece 5 is pressed against edge 19 which causes the slope 20 to contact roller 13. It may be noted that the roller 13 could be replaced by a fixed low-friciton surface. The lever 18 terminates at its lower end with a forwardly protruding foot or pedal 21 which is adapted in use to lie under the rear edge of the boot sole 16 which rests on a supporting part 22 of the frame. In the boot-holding position of the binding, the exact position of the roller 13 along the slope 20 of lever 18 is defined only by the thickness of sole 16. In effect, when, as is shown in FIG. 2, the sole 16 is thicker than that shown in FIG. I, the jaw 15 is located higher than in FIG. 1, which leads to a blocking of the lever 18 in a slightly different position relative to the roller 13, this inolving no significant modification in the operation of the device. FIG. 1 shows the lowest position that the lever 18 and jaw 15 can occupy, and this corresponds to the minimum acceptable thickness of the boot sole l6.

maining parallel to shafts l0 and 17, be made distinct of and spaced apart from the shaft 10 of lever 14.

The first embodiment of binding operates as follows: if, while a boot is held by the binding, a raising effort is transmitted by the boot sole 16 to the jaw 15, the jaw 15 is lifted up bodily with its lever 14 and, by means of shaft 17, the cam-profiled lever 18. Upward movement of lever 18 causes its slope 20 by cooperation with roller 13 to axially displace the piece 5 by pushing its rounded edge 9, and, consequently a compression of the spring 4. If the raising effort ceases before reaching a certain limit, i.e. while the roller 13 still cooperates with slope 20, the spring 4 acting against edge 19 of lever 18 via the piece 5 causes a downward movement of lever 18 which lowers jaw 15 to bring sole 16 down against the supportpart 22, all of the components of the binding returning to the FIG. 1 position. Such a displacement is known as elastic play" and the limited elastic play of the boot relative to the binding does not involve release of the safety mechanism. It may be noted that with the described binding the amplitude of this elastic play varies according to the thickness of the boot sole, but this feature involves practically no drawback.

If the lifting effort of the boot exceeds a given value, the precedingly described displacements are continued, and the binding takes the position shown in FIG. 4. The slope 20 of lever 18 bearing against roller 13 pushes the piece 5 to compress spring 4 until the roller 13 moves over the vertical part 30 and comes to engage in the recessed profiled part 23, which holds the lever 18 in this position under the action of spring 4. The corresponding upward displacement of lever 14 brings the jaw-forming end 15 to a position in which the boot sole 16 is free to be removed from the binding and ski 2. Once the binding reaches this open position, its components remain in position with the spring 4 compressed. The described sequence for bringing the binding to this position corresponds to accidental release, e.g. in the case of a fall.

When the skier desires to replace his boot in the ski and binding assembly, he places the boot heel on the foot or pedal 21 integral with the cam-profiled lever 18. Since the part 30 adjacent part 23 of the cam profile is substantially perpendicular to the axis of spring 4, a very slight downward push is' sufficient to move the lever 18 down until the slope 20 comes to bear against roller 13; the remainder of the downward movement takes place under the action of spring 4 via the lever 18 whose slope 20 cooperates with roller 13 to downwardly drive the'jaw l5 and bring it to bear against the upper face of sole I6, the lower face of sole I6 coming to rest on the support part 22 of frame 1, i.e. with the binding in the position of FIG. I.

phases: a voluntary releasing phase, and a bootremoval phase.

' The first, voluntary releasing phase takes place by exerting an upward traction on the lever 12 towards its free end 26, for example by means of the strap 25. The lifting of lever 12 causes its part 27 acting on the wall 6 of piece 5 to compress the spring 4 and move the 4 edge 9 of piece 5 away from the face 19 of lever 18. It

should be noted that during the first part of its lifting movement, the lever 12 is subjected to no opposing force until its part 27 comes to contact the wall 6 of piece 5. Afterwards, as the part 27 acts on wall 6 of piece 5 to compress the spring 4, the piece 5 and spring 4 are lifted up as a result of the profiled shape of wall 6. At the end of lifting of the lever 12, the piece 5 reaches the position of FIG. 3 and as soon as the lever 12 is'released the profiled surface 8 of piece 5 comes to jam against the fixed stop-forming shaft 10. Of course, a stop-member separate of shaft 10 could be provided on the frame 1 for the same purpose. In this position, the cam-profiled lever 18 is thus no longer submitted to the action of spring 4 but is free to move. When the lever 12 is freed, i.e. by the skier releasing the strap 25, it falls back to its position shown in FIG. 4. The play between the wall 6 and the front wall of beak 7 of the piece 5 is sufficient for thelever l2'to move from its position of FIG. 3 to that of FIG. 4 without moving the piece 5. During all of this first, voluntary releasing phase, the ski boot remains on the support part 22 so that the skier can easily maintain his equilibrium.

During the second, boot-removal phase the boot is liftd without it being necessary to exert an effort on the binding, the boot moving the jaw 15, its lever 14 and the cam-profiled lever 18 which exerts no resistance against this lifting movement. When the jaw approaches its uppermost, boot-releasing position, the protruding edge 24 of lever 14 pushes down the piece 5 and disengages its profiled surface .8 from the shaft.

10. The pressure of spring 4 thus causes a slight forward axial movement of piece 5 until its edge 9 abuts against the face 19 of lever 18, the lever 18 being in its rearmost position in which roller 13 bears against profiled part 23, as shown in FIG. 4. The binding is thus in ,the same position as that obtained by accidental release. Reinsertion of a boot takes place in same manner as described before.

F IGS. 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of binding, and the same reference numerals are used to designate the same parts. In this second'embodiment, the previous traction-operated lever 12 is replaced by a pressure operated lever 12A which can be actuated by a downward movement, e.g. by pressing it down by means of a ski-pole.-The lever 12A is pivotallymounted about a shaft 31 disposed within the hollow beak 7, parallel to the shafts 10 and 17. Towards its. free end, the lever 12A is provided with a recess 32 in its upper surface, for cooperating with the tip of a ski pole. For voluntary release, the lever 12A is pressed downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 6 by means of a ski pole the tip of which is engaged in recess 32. The arrangement and operation of all of the other parts of this second embodiment are the same as for the first embodiment.

A ski safety heel binding according to the invention is particularly intended for uses where an efiicient safety mechanism is required at a low or relatively low cost, and for which a simplification of fitting and adjustment is desired.

What is claimed is:

1. Ski safety heel binding, comprising a frame including means defining a plane face adapted to be fitted on the upper surface of a ski with a principal axis of said frame disposed along the longitudinal axis of the ski, guide means fixed relative to said frame, a boot sole holding member pivotally mounted on said frame about afirst axis parallel to said plane face and perpendicular to said principal axis, a lever pivotally mounted on said member about a second axis parallel to and spaced apart from said first axis, said lever having opposed first and second faces, a piece movably mounted on said frame, means defining a first profiled surface on said piece, elastic means for urging said piece against said first face of said lever to apply said second face of said lever against said guide means said second surface of said lever having means defining a cam-like profile for cooperating with said guide means to hold said member down in a first boot-sole engaging position under the action of said elastic means while allowing movement of said member to a second boot-sole releasing position when said member is subjected to a raising force exceeding a given valve; and release means for enabling voluntary movement of said member to its second position, said release-means including a second lever pivotally mounted on said frame about a third axis parallel to said second axis, said second lever including a part which engages with play with said movable piece, said second lever including means for enabling it to be manually moved from a first position to a second position, said part cooperating with said means defining a first profiled surface of said piece for moving said piece against the action of said elastic means from a first posi tion acting against said first'surface of said first lever to a second position removed from said first surface of said first lever when said second lever is moved from its first to its second position, profiled stop means on said frame, and means for defining a second profiled surface on said piece for engaging with said profiled stop means on said frame for releasably holding said piece in said second position under the action of said elastic means.

2. Binding according to claim 1, in which said boot sole holding member includes means for disengaging said second profiled surface of said piece from said stop means when said member is moved into its second position to allow said elastic means to move said piece into its first position, said cam-like profile of said first lever including a portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position.

3. Binding according to claim 2, in which said camlike profile includes adjacent first and second portions of said second surface, said first portion being inclined relative to the direction along which said elastic means urges said piece and said second portion being disposed substantially perpendicular to said direction along which said elastic means urges said piece, said first portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its first position, and said second portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position.

'4. Binding according to claim 1, in which said stop means on said frame is formed by a shaft defining said first axis.

7 8 5. Binding according to claim 1, in which said first I 7. Binding according to claim 1, in which said means and thud axes are coaxlaL for enabling manual movement of said second lever in- 6. Binding according to claim 1, in which said means for enabling manual movement of said second lever include a manually pullable flexible strap attached to said P of a Skl P se'cond lever.

clude pressure-actuable means for engaging with the 

1. Ski safety heel binding, comprising a frame including means defining a plane face adapted to be fitted on the upper surface of a ski with a principal axis of said frame disposed along the longitudinal axis of the ski, guide means fixed relative to said frame, a boot sole holding member pivotally mounted on said frame about a first axis parallel to said plane face and perpendicular to said principal axis, a lever pivotally mounted on said member about a second axis parallel to and spaced apart from said first axis, said lever having opposed first and second faces, a piece movably mounted on said frame, means defining a first profiled surface on said piece, elastic means for urging said piece against said first face of said lever to apply said second face of said lever against said guide means said second surface of said lever having means defining a cam-like profile for cooperating with said guide means to hold said member down in a first boot-sole engaging position under the action of said elastic means while allowing movement of said member to a second boot-sole releasing position when said member is subjected to a raising force exceeding a given valve; and release means for enabling voluntary movement of said member to its second position, said release means including a second lever pivotally mounted on said frame about a third axis parallel to said second axis, said second lever inCluding a part which engages with play with said movable piece, said second lever including means for enabling it to be manually moved from a first position to a second position, said part cooperating with said means defining a first profiled surface of said piece for moving said piece against the action of said elastic means from a first position acting against said first surface of said first lever to a second position removed from said first surface of said first lever when said second lever is moved from its first to its second position, profiled stop means on said frame, and means for defining a second profiled surface on said piece for engaging with said profiled stop means on said frame for releasably holding said piece in said second position under the action of said elastic means.
 2. Binding according to claim 1, in which said boot sole holding member includes means for disengaging said second profiled surface of said piece from said stop means when said member is moved into its second position to allow said elastic means to move said piece into its first position, said cam-like profile of said first lever including a portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position.
 3. Binding according to claim 2, in which said cam-like profile includes adjacent first and second portions of said second surface, said first portion being inclined relative to the direction along which said elastic means urges said piece and said second portion being disposed substantially perpendicular to said direction along which said elastic means urges said piece, said first portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its first position, and said second portion cooperating with said guide means to maintain said member in its second position.
 4. Binding according to claim 1, in which said stop means on said frame is formed by a shaft defining said first axis.
 5. Binding according to claim 1, in which said first and third axes are coaxial.
 6. Binding according to claim 1, in which said means for enabling manual movement of said second lever include a manually pullable flexible strap attached to said second lever.
 7. Binding according to claim 1, in which said means for enabling manual movement of said second lever include pressure-actuable means for engaging with the tip of a ski pole. 